Article-feed for wrapping machines



Feb. 23, 1932. F. R. SCHMITT 9 ARTICLE FEED FOR WRAPPING MACHINES FiledJan. 24, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l x El i/ i mg N Qt 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fsb.23, 1932. F. R. SCHMITT ARTICLE FEED FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Jan.24, 1929 ATTORNEY m-arm;

Patented Feb. 23, 1932 UNITED STATES:

FRANK REINHOLD SCHMITT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN.

PATENT OFFICE MACHINE & FOUNDRY COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEYARTICLE-FEED FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Application filed January 24, 1929.Serial No. 334,785.

This invention relates to article feeds for wrapping machines designedto supply articles one by one to the feeding device which introduces thearticles into the machine. It is particularly designed for use where thearticles are supported in the feeding device of the machine in tilted orlower position with respect to the supply of articles upon the articlefeed, and in other situations where it is necessary or desirable thatthe articlesbe dropped or deposited, rather than pushed or tipped, fromthe, article supply feed to the feeding device of the machine.

In successively feeding articles one by one from a supply to the devicewhich introduces the articles into the machine, it has been the commonpractice to periodically hold the supply of articles on the article feedstationary while a forwarding belt, on which they rest, movescontinuously. Resulting excessive wear on the belt necessitated frequentshutdowns and replacements. Moreover, such wear could not be avoided bymerely moving the belt intermittently in situations such as those abovepointed out because a considerable over-travel of the belt would then benecessary to propel the articles clear of said belt and onto the feedingdevice, and moreover the articles would cause wear by sliding over theforward end of the belt.

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention toprovide a simple and effective article'feed which 'will drop or deositarticles more or less squarely onto the ceding device to introduce thearticles into the machine, without tipping over the articles. Anotherobject is to provide anarticle feed to successively supply articles oneby one to the feeding device of the machine without rubbing between thebelt and the articles, whereb excessive wear of the belt may be avoided.Still another object is to provide means for withdrawing the forwardingbelt from under an article over said feeding device to permit it to dropt ereon, and to do this by rolling the belt, rather than sliding itunder the article. Still another object is to provide for suitableadjustment of the several parts and their operating connections,-

to feed articles of different sizes. With these and other objects inview, the invention consists 1n certain constructions and comblnationswhich will be hereinafter described and then set forth in the hereuntoappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like characters of referenceindicate the same or like parts:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved article and device into.engagement with-said stop,'and

mechanism for withdrawing said forwardin g means from under the leadingarticle engaging said stop to permit it to drop to said feeding device.In the best constructions, the said forwarding means includes aforwarding belt, and preferably there is provided a pulley forming aloop at the forward end of the operating run of said belt, together withmechanism operating to reciprocate said pulley lengthwise of the run inorder to roll the belt from under said leading article. In the bestconstructions also, devices are provided connecting said forwardingmeans and said mechanism to intermittently drive the former from thelatter. tions also include means for moving said stop away from theleading article when the forwarding means has been withdrawn." The meansabove referred to may be widely varied in construction within the scopeof the claims, for the particular machine selected to illustrate theinvention is but one of many possible concrete embodiments of the same.The invention, therefore, is not to be restrict- The best COIlStIllC-red to the precise details of the structure 4 brackets 5 and 6. Anotherpair of brackets 9 and 10 are carried by uprights 7 and 8. Brackets 5and 9 support between them a horizontal rod 11 extending alon one sideof the path of the articles, and brac ets 6 and 10 similarly support thehorizontal rod 12 on the other sideof said path. On these rods 11 and12, a carriage consisting of the frames 13 and 14 connected by the crossbars 15 and 16, is slidably mounted for red rocation lengthwise of thepath of the artic es. The brackets 5 and 6 also carry adjustable blocks20 onwhich is mounted a stationary pulley 19. Adjustment of the blocksmovesthe pulley to regulate the tension of the forwarding belt 24. Thebrackets 9 and 10 have horizontal arms 21 on which there is mounted ashaft 22 carryin a pulley 23. The carriage carriesupulleys 1 and 18,pulley 17 forming a loop at the forward end of the upper run of thebelt. 1

The forwarding belt 24 runs over the pulleys 17, 18, 19 and 23, on theupper operating run of which the, supply of articles A rests.

The forward portion of this run is supported by bars 15 and 16 mountedon the reciprocating carriage, and the remainder of the operating run ofthis belt is supported by stationary bars 26 fastened to cross bars 27and 28' carried by lugs 29- attached to the rods 11 and.12 and by lugs30 and 31 on the brackets 9 and 10.

The two vertical guide walls 32 and 33 serve to guide the articles asthey are forwarded by the belt 24 and these walls are mounted on rods 34and 35, being adjustable thereon for different widths of articles. For

this purpose, the rods 34 are slidable in bearings located in brackets5, 6, 9 and 10 and are locked in position by the wing nuts 36.

The belt 24' is intermittently driven by the following means: A ear 37loosely mounted on a stud 38 carried y a lug on the bracket 10, mesheswith a gear 39 fixedly mounted on the shaft 22. On the stud 38 there isalso loosely mounted a lever 40 which carries an eccentrically mountedroller 41 held by a s ring 42 in a circumferential groove of' a d1sk 43,integral with the spur gear 39. The lever 40, by means of a knuckle 45,is connected by the adjustable connecting rod 44 to a pin 46 adjustablymounted in slot 46a of an oscillating lever 47 mounted on the shaft 48.

By adjustment of the pin 46 in the slot 46a, the throw of the lever 40can be varied to regulate the intermittent movement of the for--warding. belt to the feeding of smaller or larger articles.

The lever 47 is oscillated by a cam 52 on shaft 53, which cam enga esaroller 54 and a lever 55 pivoted at 56 an connected by a rod link 49which is secured to the stud 50 on the rec1procating carriage13--14--15-16 by a knurled nut 51.

When the lever 40 is rocked in a clockwise directionthrough movement ofthe lever 47 ultimately driven by the'cam 52, the roller 41, by virtueof its eccentricity, grips the disk 43 and drives the gear 39. When thelever rocks in a counter clockwise direction, however, the eccentricroller is released, and causes the gear and forwarding belt to remainstationary. The. eccentric roller thus acts as a one way clutch, much inthe same manner as a ratchet and pawl. The cam 52 is driven by means ofa chain 59 connected to a sprocket 60 on the cam shaft 53 and a sprocket61on drive shaft 62 of the wrapping machine proper. The shaft 62 isjournalled in frame 3 and in a bracket 63 secured at 64 to said frame. Aspring 65 attached to the lever 55 and anchored at 66 keeps the roller54 in contact with cam 52.

A stop 79 is supported in the path of articles forwarded over thefeed-way leading into the wrapping machine, and this stop is mounted formovement toward and away from the leading article forwarded by the belt24.v This stop is mounted on a longitudinally adjustable rod 78 securedin blocks 76 and 77 pivoted at the upper ends of a pair of parallellevers 70 and71 fixed respectively to shafts 68 and '69 journalled in apedestal 67 The lever 70 is provided with an arm 7 2, to which issecured a pin 73, which projects into a slot 74 of a link 75 connectedto cam lever 55.

I The stop 79 is pressed toward the leading article on the belt 24 by aspring 80. An adjustable set screw 81 bearing against the isreciprocated to the position A", shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,thereby extending the operating run of said belt over the table 82 ofthe feeding device of the wrapping machine. At the same time, movementof the carriage operating mechanism through the connecting devices 44,'41, 43, 37 and 39 imparts a forwarding'movement to the belt by reasonof which the belt forwards the leading article resting on it onto theextended portion of the operating run simultaneously with the extensionof said run.

As the article thus approaches its foremost position on the extendedforwarding means, the stop 79 is caused by the movement of link 75 toexert pressure on the forward face of the article, thus pressing itagainst the following articles, and thereby securely holding samebetween the stop and said followis then withdrawn from under the articlerearward movement of the carriage 1314 l5l6 and with it pulley 17,thereby rolling the belt from under the article A" without rubbing orfriction between the article and the belt, leaving the article securelygripped between the stop plate at position 79 and the succeeding articleon the forwarding belt.

As the carriage approaches the end of its rearward movement, the outerend of the slot 74 of link 75, driven from the same cam as the carriage,engages pin 73 on arm 72 of the lever 70, thereby moving the stop plate79 away from the article during the last portion of the withdrawingmovement of the forwarding means. This releases the suspended article A,which being wholly unsupported, drops squarely onto the inclinedfeed-way or table 82 of the feeding device of the wrapping machine. Thistable is suitably supported by bars 83 attached to the frame 3.

. The article deposited on the table 82 is guided by the side wall 84which, when necessary, is cut away in the path of the extended forwarding mechanism and this wall is supported by a bracket 85 from frame 3. Anumber of pushers 86 "projecting through a slot in the table 82, carriedat intervals by a conveyor chain not shown, engage with and push thearticles along the table and into the wrapping machine. The operation ofthe machine on smaller articles is similar in all respects, being shownby dot-dash lines at A in Fig. 1.

It should be noted that the mounting and staggered relationship of thepulleys 17 and 18, is such that they form contiguous oppositely disposedloops and are caused to reciprocate together with respect to thestationary pulley 19. I11 the remainder of the belt any increase in thelength of the loop in the forward end of the operating run of the belt24, formed by pulley 17, is compensated for by a corresponding decreasein the length of the loop formed by the pulley 18, and vice versa. Thusthere will be no need of slack in the belt to avoid binding thereof.

It will also be observed that the driving means for the' belt, themechanism for extending and withdrawing the forwarding means, and themechanism operating the stop 79. are interconnected, all beingultimately driven from the cam 52 and the coacting lever 55, and thatmeans are provided for adjusting the connecting linkage between each ofthese parts to suit variations'in operating conditions and the size ofthe articles.

What is claimed is;

1. The combination with a wrapping machine feeding device, of a stop inthe path of articles forwarded to said device, means for forwarding arow of articles to press the leading article between said stop and thefollowing article in a position overlying said feeding device, andmechanism forwithdrawing said forwarding means from under the leading,article to permit it to drop to said feeding device.

2. The combination with a wrapping machine feeding device, of a stop inthe path of articles forwarded to said device, means for forwardingartlcles successively over said device into engagement with said stop,mechanism for withdrawing said forwarding means from under the leadingarticle engaging said stop to permit it to drop to said feeding device,and means for moving said stop away from the leading, article when theforwarding means has been withdrawn.

3. The combination with a wrapping ma-' chine feeding device, of a stopin the path of 5 articles forwarded to said'device, means for forwardingarticle's successively over said device into engagement with said stop,mechanism for withdrawing said forwarding means from under the leadingarticle engaging said stop to permit it todrop to said feeding device,and means operating said stop to press the leadingarticle against thefollowing articles and then release the same when said forwarding meanshas been withdrawn.

4:. The combination with a wrapping machine feeding device, of a stop inthe path of articles forwarded to said device, means for forwarding arow of articles to press the leading article between said stop and thefollowing article in a position overlying said feeding device, andmechanism for withdrawing said forwarding means from under the leadingarticle to permit it to drop to said feeding device, said forwardingmeans including a forwarding belt.

5. The combination with a wra ping ma chine feeding device, of a stop int e path of articles forwarded to said device, means for forwardingarticles successively over said device into engagement with said stop,mechanism for withdrawing said forwarding means from under the leadingarticle engaging said stop to permit it to drop to said feeding de,-vice, and devices connecting said forwarding means and said mechanism todrive the former from the latter, including a drive shaft for saidforwarding means, a member oscillated by said mechanism and meanscoacting with said member and said shaftjto intermittently rotate saidshaft.

6. The combination with a wrapping machine feeding device, of a stop inthe path of articles forwarded to said device, means for forwardingarticles successively over said device into engagement with said stop,mechanism for withdrawing said forwarding means from under the leadingarticle engaging said stop to permit it to drop to said feeding device,and interconnected means for operating said mechanism and for movingsaid stop away from said leading article when the forwarding means hasbeen withdrawn.

7. The combination with a wrapping ma- 5 chine feeding device, of a stopin the path of articles forwarded to said device, means for forwardingarticles successively over said device into engagement with said stop,and mechanism for withdrawing said forwarding means from under theleading article engag- 1 ing said stop to permit it to drop to saidfeeding device, ca1n operated means for actuating said mechanism andinstrumentalities connected to said cam operated means for alternatelymoving said stop against said leading article and retracting the same.

8. In an article feed, the combination with a forwarding belt, ofmechanism for alternately extending and withdrawing the forward end ofthe operating run of said belt,

and means for driving said belt to successive- 1y forward articles ontothe extended portion of the run, said means including devicesintermittently driven by said mechanism to impart forwarding movement tothe belt during extending of the run and to cause said belt to remainstationary during withdrawal of said run. In testimony whereof, I havesigned my name to this specification.

FRANK REINHOLD SCHMITT.

